Great Gift Idea: Apex Magazine (and a give away!)

As many of you know, I’m an interviewer over at Apex Magazine. I get to read some stories way, way ahead of time, and then interview the author. As one of the magazine editors put it to me when I first came on board “ask questions that are compelling. Make readers want to read the story”. Thanks to that piece of advice, I think my interviews across the board have gotten better. Working with Apex is an amazing experience.

Along with the interviews I conduct, much of Apex Magazine’s fiction is available for free, online. But each issue also includes special content, such as a bonus story or article, or an excerpt from a novel that’s available to subscribers only.

Know someone who keeps saying “I should really read more short fiction, I just don’t know where to start”? Are you planning to get an e-reader for a friend or family member for the holidays? Apex Magazine makes a great gift! In fact, Apex is currently running a subscription drive, which means you can get a year’s subscription for only $17.95. It’s the gift that keeps giving. It’s cheaper than dinner and a movie, and will go further than a B&N gift card. Also? Read Apex Mag and you’ll have the opportunity to say “oh yeah, I read all those award winning stores and editors before they were famous”. Because all that fiction? All that artwork? That costs money. And like any business, the more funding Apex Magazine has, the more fiction, poetry, non-fiction and artwork they can purchase.

Wanna give Apex a whirl? In celebration of their subscription drive and in celebration of the start of the giving season, I am giving away two gift subscriptions to Apex Magazine. All you need is an e-mail address, and to be a resident of planet Earth. Leave a comment down below, and leave me some way to reach you if you win (e-mail or twitter). I’ll be choosing two winners on Nov 10th.

Still not sure? Here’s a taste of what Apex brought the world in the last year or so:

I love this cover art. I can trace the lines with my finger and discover all sorts of directions and shapes. Among other gems, this issue included an excerpt of Lavie Tidhar’s A Man Lies Dreaming, Elizabeth Bear’s “Tiger! Tiger!”, short fiction from Chikodili Emelumadu, Ginger Weil, and Rich Larson, and award winning fiction from Apex Mag‘s Steal the Spotlight contest.

Apex started off the new year with fiction from Samuel Marzioli, Ursula Vernon (have you read her award winning story Jackalope Wives?), Allison M. Dickson, poetry from Alina Rios and Armel Dagorn, and a riveting essay from DeAnna Knippling. Also? I totally love the interplay between positive and negative space in this cover art by Emma SanCartier.

Does she feel his hot trumpet breath on her still quivering strings? I bet she does. I didn’t realize until this moment how erotic this cover art from Adrian Borda is. Past the cover art, the jam-packed April issue included “Silver Buttons All Down His Back” by A.C. Wise (and wow did I have an emotional reaction to that story. omg, just WOW), fiction from Naomi Kritzer, Octavia Cade and Sean Robinson, and a fantastic essay from Jennie Goloboy about how fantasy novels don’t have enough farmers or generalists, when most people in those worlds would have been farmers or generalists of some kind. It was a really cool essay to read.

Isn’t Beth Spencer’s artwork just the coolest? Steampunk fairy, rusty old car, autumn colors everywhere. When she jumps off that car, where is she going to go? In this issue, subscribers got to enjoy excerpts from Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and The Buried Life by Carrie Patel. Free fiction includes work by JY Yang, Sarah Pinsker and David Bowles. Non-fiction included a well-researched essay from Dan Koboldt on Genetics and mutations, and how it’s too easy for spec fic authors to take these terms for granted and use them in ways that aren’t scientifically accurate. Scifi authors take note!

In celebration of The Apex Book of World SF Vol 4, the Sept issue of the magazine was an international issue. the guest-editor for this issue was Cristina Jurado, and it included fiction from Tade Thompson, Kuzhali Manickavel, Isabel Yap, Liu Cixin, and Marian Womack. Subscribers got a special sneak peak at novel excerpts from Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown and Saad Z. Hossain’s Escape from Baghdad!. You can even listen to a podcast of Kuzhali Manickavel “Six Things We Found During the Autopsy”,which is a great sample of what’s in store in The Apex Book of World SF Vol 4.

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11 Responses to "Great Gift Idea: Apex Magazine (and a give away!)"

ooooo….I’ve been wanting to start reading Apex. I do think the magazine would be a great way to start consistently reading short stories, plus their stories seem to always appeal to me more times than not. But, when I last looked into it, it seemed hard to figure out if it would download easily onto my kindle. Now of course, this digital stuff can confuse me easily when they start talking in languages of ePub and such…I don’t understand the nuances of it all. Anyhow, it downloads onto kindle? Right? (and I was just very lame and couldn’t figure it out).

It really is a delightful magazine. I read their issues where I can, and have submitted (alas, was not meant to be) several pieces their way as well. Been addicted since “The Bread We Eat in Dreams,” by Valente. Absolutely floored me.

I’ve never heard of this magazine (but then again, I hardly read magazines). Those covers are gorgeous! And I’ve been reading lots more tasty short stories lately. If there is a chance to win a subscription, sign me up! Erm, you can contact me at: this_is_shar[at]live[dot]com!

FTC Stuff

some of the books reviewed here were free ARCs supplied by publishers/authors/other groups. Some of the books here I got from the library. the rest I *gasp!* actually paid for. I'll do my best to let you know what's what.